Month: August 2023

We’re living in an era of intense inequality. While billionaires can’t give their money away fast enough, 1 in 10 US households regularly struggle to put food on the table. This disparity has made many people reexamine the systemic forces that uphold inequity. Capitalism included.

Along with individuals, businesses large and small are rethinking their role in society. More and more companies are balancing the drive for innovation and profits with a need to advance social good. In turn, they are embracing stakeholder capitalism.

What is stakeholder capitalism?

In stakeholder capitalism, corporations serve the interests of all stakeholders, including their employees and their local community, not just shareholders. It’s built upon the belief that businesses have a responsibility beyond just their bottom line.

The goal of stakeholder capitalism is to reframe business decisions and priorities to create long-term value for employees, customers, suppliers, local communities, investors, and other stakeholders. Compared to a more traditional way of doing business, stakeholder capitalism operates with a longer, wider, more holistic view. It incorporates the company’s impact beyond its investors and defines success as more than just profit.

This economic philosophy views businesses as part of an ecosystem. The success of the business is dependent upon the economic, social, and physical health of all stakeholders. Every part of this ecosystem must remain healthy for stakeholders to thrive.

Within this framework, social responsibility guides decisions in the C-suite and boardroom. As corporate leaders set priorities, they weigh their organization’s impact on the environment and every person along the supply chain.

When actor and philanthropist Paul Newman made a $300,000 profit the first year he sold salad dressing, he said, “Let’s give it all away to those who need it!” This is an extreme example, but Newman’s altruistic impulse helped redefine what role businesses could play in society. In 1999, Newman co-founded Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose® (CECP) whose motto captures the essence of stakeholder capitalism: “creating a better world through business.” CECP carries on Newman’s legacy today by advising companies of all sizes how to incorporate social impact into their business mission.

Clothing and gear company Patagonia has a long-standing reputation for its environmental activism. In 2002, its founder Yvon Chouinard started the 1% for the Planet initiative, which asks businesses to commit 1% of their annual sales to environmental causes.

Last year, Chouinard transferred ownership of Patagonia to a trust to ensure its profits are used to address the climate crisis. “Earth is now our only shareholder,” he wrote on the Patagonia website. “Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth for investors, we’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth.”

These are just two examples of corporate leaders reorienting their companies to serve all stakeholders. If you’re looking for more inspiration, there are countless brands getting serious about social impact.

If stakeholder capitalism seems reminiscent of kinder times of old, you’re right. Most businesses operated according to its principles until it was abandoned in the 1970s, (no) thanks to Milton Friedman.

The arguments against stakeholder capitalism

Economist Milton Friedman argued corporate leaders should not get distracted by social and environmental issues. Their job is to make profits and keep shareholders happy. He got his way for a while, but the negative impacts of this strategy became too much to bear for businesses and society as a whole. Ultimately, the C-suite had to recalibrate their priorities.

At the 2019 Business Roundtable, CEOs resolved to lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders. Keeping those commitments has been challenging.

Two arguments are frequently used against stakeholder capitalism. Some say the required trade-offs are impossible to make, but that is taking a short-term view.

The first argument is that the costs of adopting social impact into a business mission may seem high. But that’s only if you don’t consider the costs of not acting. Look at the recent train derailment in Ohio as an example. Norfolk Southern Railway cut labor and operations costs, and though this cost savings might have looked good in the short-term, these conditions contributed to an incredibly costly disaster that was devastating for the company, the community, and the environment. Considering these possible negative impacts is actually good business. And business leaders are familiar with making complex trade-offs like these.

The second argument claims it’s impossible to balance the competing interests of stakeholders. But this is also familiar ground for executives. CEOs are constantly balancing interests of existing customers, potential customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, board members, and others. Plus, this argument assumes that these parties’ interests will be perpetually competing. Stakeholder capitalism actually helps leaders find where stakeholder interests overlap with one another.

Why a sole focus on profit isn’t sustainable

There’s nothing wrong with profit, but it’s only one measure of a company’s success. Short-term profit doesn’t always indicate long-term success. Imagine a seafood restaurant chain with a glowing quarterly report showing increased profits and managerial bonuses. But what’s going on behind the numbers?

Their low food costs are made possible by low wages for employees and illegally caught shrimp from ships that are not adhering to local conservation regulations meant to protect wildlife and keep the fishing industry sustainable for the long term.

Over time, the shrimp population that the restaurant depends on gets depleted. Costs go up. Plus, the local community that has depended on the fishing industry for centuries is now left struggling and destabilized.

On top of that, low wages at the restaurant have created an environment where employees aren’t invested in their work. Turnover is high, customer service poor, and managers spend a good portion of their time recruiting and training new staff.

So yes, for the short term, there were high quarterly profits. But the very decisions which made that possible have undercut the potential for long-term success and had a negative impact on the environment and the community. It turns out, decisions made solely with profit in mind have worrisome long-term implications for everyone. And in the end, they can have a negative impact on profit, too.

Why stakeholder capitalism is a necessity for companies and people to thrive

The long-term implications of a business practicing stakeholder capitalism are much rosier.

Employers: Companies with strong values find it easier to recruit, engage, and retain employees. A recent survey by Qualtrics found that 56% of employees wouldn’t even consider a job from a company whose values didn’t align with theirs. In particular, younger generations are quick to judge prospective employers’ commitment to social good. They wonder what drives your work, besides making your stockholders richer.Consumers: People, especially Gen Z and Millennials, make purchasing decisions based on a company’s social and environmental record and image. In fact, a recent consumer culture report found that 83% of millennials prefer brands that align with their values. Corporate leaders practicing stakeholder capitalism don’t have to worry about how their company values will resonate with consumers.Investors: ESG ratings influence investment decisions. According to Garter, 85% of investors consider ESG factors in their investment decisions. This more sophisticated and holistic way to assess a company’s record helps investors understand what’s behind a stock price, including factors that could lead to stock trouble in the future.

Stakeholder capitalism is slowly becoming more dominant as companies and investors realize that being a force for good in the world is actually a business imperative. Since the 2019 Roundtable, more and more corporate leaders are making decisions that set their companies up for a sustainable and profitable future for all stakeholders. Many of them are using social impact software like Submittable to make it easier to do more good.

Points of Light named Entergy as a 2023 honoree of The Civic 50, the prestigious list recognizing the top community-minded companies in the United States. Entergy was also recognized as this year’s Utilities Sector Leader. This is the eighth time Entergy has been included on this list. Learn more: http://enter.gy/6005Peng3

By Siobhan Kenney

At Applied Materials, our drive to Make Possible® a Better Future is integral to our business and our culture, and one of the ways we bring this vision to life is through our annual global EarthWorks campaign.

While we encourage our employees to “make every day Earth Day,” we also invite our global workforce to take part in our spring EarthWorks activities to learn about and inspire action for environmental sustainability. This year’s campaign saw the return of in-person environmental activities in full force following heightened safety protocols and limited in-person gatherings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 1,500 employees from around the world mobilized to protect our planet and enjoy nature. In celebration of these efforts, the Applied Materials Foundation will donate funds to plant a tree in recognition of each participant.

Click through the photos above to see how our teams around the world made a difference in their communities during our EarthWorks campaign.

Thank you to all our event hosts for helping us bring to life our commitment to sustainability and our culture of purpose.

Get inspired by visiting Applied’s corporate responsibility webpage to see how we’re engaging in environmental sustainability and other efforts year-round.

Originally published by WROC on RochesterFirst.com

Thursday, Taco Bell awarded Rochester’s Boys and Girls Club $59,110 to fuel the city’s young people’s bold ambitions.

Continue reading and see the video here

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., August 8, 2023 /3BL/ – Black & Veatch, a global leader in decarbonization solutions, announces its completion of a comprehensive integrated resource plan for Jacksonville, Florida-based JEA, the community-owned electric utility looking to cut its carbon emissions by 80 percent over 2005 levels by the end of this decade.

The “JEA 2023 Electric Generation Integrated Resource Plan” (IRP) was developed to guide JEA’s efforts in providing essential power to its more than one million customers for decades to come, along the way balancing affordability, reliability and environmental sustainability. As part of the IRP – designed to create a framework and guideposts for future action and decisions – Black & Veatch presented various scenarios that allowed for diverse possible outcomes and a robust evaluation.

Given the growth of renewable energy, electric supply planning now needs to account for greater energy intermittency, more dispersed resource types and technologies, and increased storage and electric vehicle use. IRPs are built to do that, enabling utilities to compare future electric system demand with existing generating resources, evaluate new resource options, analyze solutions, incorporate stakeholder input, evaluate alternative portfolios and develop timely action plans.

Central to the development of JEA’s IRP, which combines economics, technology and engagement to chart a responsible path to 2030 and beyond, was the utility’s collaboration with community stakeholders. They included residential and commercial customers, community partners, environmentalists, neighborhood groups and municipal representatives.

The IRP will help propel JEA toward its decarbonization goals. JEA’s near-term objectives include generating 35 percent of its power supply from clean energy, retiring less-efficient generating assets and serving JEA facilities entirely with clean energy.

“I’m proud of the clean energy goals that JEA has established for our community. Planning for the best ways to meet the energy needs of Northeast Florida — reliably, affordably and sustainably — will be an ongoing process. I look forward to the continuing engagement with our customers,” said Jay Stowe, managing director and CEO of JEA, which serves an estimated 500,000 electric, 380,000 water, 300,000 wastewater and 22,000 reclaimed water customers.

JEA owns and operates an electric system that includes four generating plants, more than 745 circuit miles of transmission lines and more than 7,200 miles of distribution lines. JEA’s power-generating sites use a diverse fuel mix of petroleum coke, coal, biomass, natural gas, nuclear energy and solar energy.

“The IRP has JEA on a forward-looking path aligning with expectations that renewable energy will transform the energy landscape, driving sustainability and resilience,” said Deepa Poduval, a Black & Veatch senior vice president who heads the company’s global advisory business. “This critical assessment requires a balancing of what’s viable and what’s affordable, and triggers a timely, meaningful conversation now about achieving long-term goals using low-carbon resources.”

Editor’s Notes: 

To learn more about Black & Veatch’s strategy, planning and advisory services related to the energy transition, click here.

About Black & Veatch 
Black & Veatch is a 100-percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the resilience and reliability of our most important infrastructure assets. Our revenues in 2022 were US$4.3 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and on social media.

About JEA 
Located in Jacksonville in northeast Florida, JEA is a not-for-profit, community-owned utility that provides safe, reliable and affordable services to more than one million customers across four Northeast Florida counties. JEA is not owned by investors. It was created by the City of Jacksonville to meet the electricity and water needs of those who live in Jacksonville and surrounding communities. JEA’s 2,000-plus workforce is dedicated to ensuring the demands of its customers are met, both today and for generations to come, while protecting our precious natural resources and supporting our region’s growth and economic development. For more about JEA, click here.

Media Contact Information:

JIM SUHR | +1 913-458-6995 P | SuhrJ@BV.com 
24-HOUR MEDIA CONTACT | Media@bv.com

As published in Qualcomm’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

In 2022, we consolidated our signature well-being and benefit programs under the Live+Well, Work+Well program. It is our goal for our employees to be equipped to unlock their full potential at home, work and everywhere in between.

Live+Well, Work+Well has five core pillars: Health, Wealth, Self, Connections and Productivity.

Health: Our health programs, resources and tips offer ways to help our employees and their families maintain and improve their physical health. We provide onsite health centers, fitness centers and classes, as well as lifestyle and chronic condition coaching in some countries.

Where applicable, we provide our employees around the globe with comprehensive healthcare coverage, with no employee premiums for employee medical coverage and low or no premiums for family members. We are continuously reviewing and benchmarking our benefits programs to ensure that we are listening to what our employees want and that our programs are positioned competitively

In 2022, we:

expanded our existing Health Club Reimbursement to provide more employees with funds for fitness memberships, club fees, ski lift tickets, registration fees and other fitness-related expenses; enhanced our global minimum maternity, paternity and parental leave benefits; expanded our gender dysphoria medical benefits in the United States; and expanded our coverage in the United States for travel expenses related to obtaining covered medical services that are not available locally to our employees and their families.

Wealth: We believe that good financial health is important for our employees, both in the present and as they look forward to retirement. Our wealth resources provide financial education and strategy so our employees can feel confident about where they are — and where they are going.

We offer our employees participation in an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, savings and retirement tax advantaged-accounts, life and disability insurance, tuition assistance, employee discounts, commuter benefits and a wireless device subsidy program, where applicable. We also host financial seminars and provide access to financial counselling for interested employees.

Self: We understand that in order for our employees to enjoy both work and life, they need to prioritize taking care of themselves. In support of employee selfcare, we provide an Employee Assistance Program, vacation and/or flexible time off, a resiliency resource program, family care resources, accommodations for mothers returning to work and a mental health allies network, where applicable.

In 2022, we continued to designate four additional global holidays each year to enable the majority of our people to take the same day off, which greatly contributes to the ability to fully unplug, relax and recharge. Since their inception in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, global holidays have been exceptionally well received by our employees as a mental health boost.

Connections: We believe that the connections made with colleagues, family, friends and community influence overall well-being. Our Company’s culture of inclusion and passion for our people and their careers have inspired programs that promote building and sustaining our personal networks.

We support employee-driven networks, employeeled interest and hobby groups (known as Qclubs), mentoring programs, community volunteering by employees, service awards, an employee matching grant program and the Qualcomm Ambassador program, through which employees represent our Company in their local community and at internal events.

Our culture empowers employees at all levels to recognize each other’s great work and celebrate milestones. Our online social recognition platform, ThankQ, enables all employees to create public recognitions for their colleagues.

Productivity: We believe that productivity means more than simply getting a lot of work done or done fast. It means continuing to deliver world-changing innovations and technology breakthroughs while operating with behaviors that promote balance and wellbeing.

We provide productivity resources for our employees related to flexible and hybrid work, effective meetings, time management, promoting ethical conduct, managing their email inboxes and supporting inclusivity.

Learn more in Qualcomm’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

Otis facility in San Sebastian becomes first factory in Spain to obtain LEED Platinum® Certification.All three Otis manufacturing centers in Spain, located in Madrid, San Sebastián and Vigo, have received ‘Zero Waste’ certification.The Otis factory in Vigo completed installation of its photovoltaic plant, expected to result in a reduction of ~44 Mtons of CO2 per year.

MADRID, August 7, 2023 /3BL/ – In line with Otis’ global objective of reducing the environmental impacts of our products, services and operations, its manufacturing centers in Spain have implemented important energy, water and waste initiatives. Otis (NYSE: OTIS) is the world’s leading company for elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation and service.

“At Otis, we understand that it is our responsibility to be stewards of our natural resources and to do the right thing for our planet and future generations. These certifications are recognition of our efforts to do well while doing good,” said Rosa Querejeta, Otis Executive Director of Manufacturing for Europe, Middle East & Africa.

Spain’s 1st LEED Platinum factory

The Otis factory in San Sebastian, inaugurated a year ago, maximizes energy and water savings while minimizing environmental impact. Features such as its thermal insulation, the use of natural sunlight in addition to the installation of solar panels, and its waste control system have earned it LEED Platinum certification, the highest category in the LEED® green building program, becoming the first factory in the country to obtain it.

San Sebastian´s factory occupies a total area of 17,000 square meters. It is built with sustainable materials and runs on 100% renewable energy. Thanks to the installation of several systems designed to reduce the flow of water inside the building, water consumption has been reduced by 45%, compared to the factory that it replaced.

Energy efficiency

A cornerstone of Otis’ program to reduce emissions is the use of renewable energy. The Vigo factory has just completed the installation of 432 solar photovoltaic panels on its roof. This is expected to reduce annual electricity consumption by 30%, eliminating 44 metric tons of CO2 emitted annually.

All Otis factories in Spain now have solar photovoltaic installations, and all the remaining energy that is purchased for these factories is 100% green energy coming from renewable sources.

‘Zero Waste’ certifications

All three manufacturing centers in Spain also recently obtained ‘Zero Waste’ distinction from AENOR®, a training, accreditation and certification organization. This seal certifies that more than 90% of the waste produced has been diverted from landfills (returned to the production chain).

“I’m proud of the commitment and progress of our Spain operations and their contributions toward helping achieve our worldwide ESG targets,” said Kevin Dix, Vice President, Environment, Health & Safety.

Otis’ commitment to sustainability is reflected in its 13 Environmental, Social & Governance goals, including Environment & Impact goals:

Achieve 50% reduction of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030.Reach carbon neutrality for factory electricity by 2030.Complete ISO 14001 certification for all factories by 2025. (Complete.)Achieve 100% factory eligibility for zero-waste-to-landfill certification by 2025.

About Otis

Otis gives people freedom to connect and thrive in a taller, faster, smarter world. The global leader in the manufacture, installation and servicing of elevators and escalators, we move 2 billion people a day and maintain approximately 2.2 million customer units worldwide – the industry’s largest Service portfolio. You’ll find us in the world’s most iconic structures, as well as residential and commercial buildings, transportation hubs and everywhere people are on the move. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, Otis is 69,000 people strong, including 41,000 field professionals, all committed to meeting the diverse needs of our customers and passengers in more than 200 countries and territories. To learn more, visit www.otis.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @OtisElevatorCo.

August 8, 2023 /3BL/ – The Inogen Alliance Leadership team is growing! We are pleased to announce the addition of three new members: Ramesh Ramalingam from Chola Risk, India; Charlotte Buffoni from Delta-Simons, UK; and Casey Giberson from Tonkin+Taylor, New Zealand. This is in addition to the newest members in 2022 with Jean Esteves from Antea Brazil and Lida Tan from Anew Consulting China. The Leadership Team is instrumental in supporting our strategic planning and operations including our Associate and Regional meetings and supporting our global Working Groups which enables the Alliance to meet its goals and objectives.

Ramesh Ramalingam is a mechanical engineer with masters in Industrial safety engineering. He has over 20 years of experience in safety and risk consulting. As Senior Associate Vice President and Business Head at Chola MS Risk Services, he is mentoring the sustainability and environment team to scale up the business in line with the long term vision of the organization. Ramesh specializes in process safety consulting, safety culture transformation and transportation safety management.

“I am very excited to join the Leadership Team as this gives me an opportunity to work with leaders of similar consulting companies worldwide in achieving the goal of the Inogen Alliance. This also gives me an opportunity to understand the emerging trends in the areas of ESG, sustainability and risk consulting across varied industry sectors globally. As we serve a lot of Alliance customers in India, being part of the leadership team will provide insights to ensure execution excellence and partnership with clients in their transformation journey,” Ramesh Ramalingam.

Charlotte Buffoni is based in UK and has worked in consultancy for the past 17 years. She has been with Delta Simons for the last five years as Unit Director for their Environmental, Health and Safety team. Charlotte has extensive experience in delivering focused operational environmental, health and safety compliance assurance to the technology, financial, retail, construction and manufacturing sectors across EMEA and beyond and works on many key accounts coordinating consulting teams to deliver consistent support to clients.

“Having worked with colleagues from across the Inogen Alliance for the last five years on multiple client accounts I am thrilled to join the Leadership team and play an active part in shaping our strategy and services of the future. What makes us unique is the strong and trusted relationships between Associates and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both the Leadership Team and more widely within the Alliance moving forwards,” Charlotte Buffoni.

With over 20 years international consulting experience specializing in environmental and civil engineering, Casey Giberson leads Tonkin + Taylor’s partner programme in his role as Global Partnerships Lead. He brings a strategic focus to their center of excellence at the intersection of business relationships, technology, geopolitical complexity and how these changing conditions give rise to new customer-centric business models. Most recently he shaped, guided and grew T+T’s new advisory business into a team of 25+ senior consultants. This team guides customers through the emerging and complex issues facing our communities, people, and built and natural infrastructure.

“As a new Associate, joining the Inogen Alliance feels like a natural extension of the T+T family. Building on the successes of the Alliance I look forward to working with the Leadership Team to stretch our thinking on what we can be together, and position the Inogen Alliance as the leading global Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability consulting brand,” Casey Giberson.

In total there are ten representatives on the Inogen Alliance Leadership Team with coverage around the globe. This team supports the President of the Alliance with operational and strategic inputs and activities. They provide a local and cultural lens to our global network to represent our diverse base of Associates. It is an active group meeting biweekly to keep a pulse on the Alliance, maintain engagement across our network, plan meetings and events, and give input into our strategies. The Leadership Team is in addition to the Board of Directors which is comprised of eleven Directors and makes decisions on strategic priorities and initiatives.

Inogen Alliance is a global network made up of dozens of independent local businesses and over 6,000 consultants around the world who can help make your project a success. Our Associates collaborate closely to serve multinational corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and we share knowledge and industry experience to provide the highest quality service to our clients. If you want to learn more about how you can work with Inogen Alliance, you can explore our Associates or Contact Us. Watch for more News & Blog updates here and follow us on LinkedIn.